Neutron irradiation damage modelling of interface strengthened ferritic superalloys for high temperature fusion applications

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This project supported by UKAEA at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy will explore irradiation damage in a new class of steels strengthened by additions of Ni and Al to create precipitates where the interfacial properties with the Fe-matrix can be tuned. The precipitates allow these superalloy steels to operate at much higher temperatures than current steels, with behaviours similar to Ni-based superalloys used in the gas turbines. This will be crucial for fusion reactors, such as DEMO where current steels will neither be able to survive the high temperatures or the intense neutron damage. We hypothesise that at the atomic scale the precipitate-matrix interfaces can also be useful for imparting radiation tolerance by acting as sinks for defects such as the vacancies created by the irradiation damage. The project will use, test and develop existing atomic potentials for the Fe-NiAl systems and irradiation will be simulated using molecular dynamics cascades. This work will be alongside experimental projects being run at the University of Birmingham and the student is also expected to have strong interactions with their industrial supervisors at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.